Thursday, October 19, 2017

Mike McCabe: I'm Common

Blue jeans dude Mike McCabe really, really, really wants the job of Blue Jeans Governor. He wants it so badly that anything is game when it comes to showing how deep his farming roots are. Why, just today, he sent out an e-mail blast that showed how much more filled with passion he is for government and the economy than the rest of the 145 people running for governor BECAUSE OF HIS NEIGHBOR'S DAD'S SUICIDE. 

Yes, that's right. In making a case for how super in-touch he was with his agricultural roots, he talked about how related a neighbor's dad's suicide is to everything from barn raising to the common good. 

Nearly every single American has agricultural roots. There's nothing that makes a person better-- or worse-- if they have rural or agricultural roots.  But you know what really can separate you from the rest of the herd? Not making a bizarre, out-of-place reference to a neighbor's father's suicide as some formative experience for you. (I highly recommend that if your family has been touched by suicide-- and that's too many of us-- you stop reading right now.)

Here is the text of his e-mail:

I am farm raised and have deep rural roots going back generations. I got my start in life milking cows and working the land with my family. This is where I got my values. This is what shaped my politics.

Having a neighbor come to our aid during a difficult harvest season only weeks after his father hung himself in the shed because the bank was foreclosing made a lifelong impression on me. It taught me all I ever needed to know about concern for the common good. Taking part in two barn raisings — replacing one lost to a tornado and another that burned down — reinforced the importance of being there for each other when times are tough.

This is where I got my passion for a government and economy that work for all of us and not just the wealthy and well-connected, and things like living wages for every worker, health care for all, debt-free education and bringing high-speed Internet to every household. And it’s where I got the work ethic and common sense that will be needed to bring these changes about.

We’re all in this together. I learned that lesson on the farm.


His e-mail mentioned that it was "paid for by commoners for Mike McCabe." Those "commoners" might want to acquaint themselves with the lesser-used meaning of "common" when it comes to the decision to use someone's family's suicide tragedy to make a point: of mediocre or inferior quality; mean; low.

Find a better way to make your point, McCabe. Surely, respecting a family's privacy and grief would also be a value you were raised with. Maybe even pretty common where you came from. 

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